Trouser and towel holder



Jan. 2, 1968 J. w. BURKHOLDER 3,

TROUSER AND TOWEL HOLDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 12, 1966 John W. Burkho/der INVENTOR.

WWW Em 1963 J. w. BURKHOLDER 3,36

TROUSER AND TOWEL HOLDER Filed Jan. 12, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 3

Fig. 5

John W. Burkholde IN VENTOR.

M-bqi United States Patent 3,361,267 TROUSER AND TOWEL HOLDER John W. Burkholder, Newport News, Va. (2705 Victoria Blvd., Hampton, Va. 23361) Filed Jan. 12, 1966, Ser. No. 520,109 3 Claims. (Cl. 211-89) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A holder for trousers or the like mounted on a vertical supporting surface and including a supporting surface and a spring-biased gripping member associated therewith and an article supporting tray disposed below the gripping surface for supporting various items.

The present invention comprises a supporting device in the form of a horizontally disposed supporting plate, a depending mounting plate at the inner edge thereof and a forwardly extending supporting tray at the lower end of the mounting plate. A gripping plate is pivotally attached to the inner edge of the supporting plate and is spring-biased towards the supporting plate for gripping an article between the supporting plate and gripping plate.

In certain instances such as when staying overnight at a motel, hotel or the like and even when hanging trousers in the home, it is sometimes desirable to support such trousers from the belt area or waist engaging area thereof rather than from the cuff area or from the knee area when the trousers are placed over a supporting bar on a coat hanger or the like. This enables the trousers to be supported without removing articles from the pockets thereof and avoid the danger of accidentally losing such articles. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a holder which will support trousers from the belt area or waist engaging area in such a manner that trouser legs are suspended therefrom so that the pockets of the trousers will be maintained in their normal position so that articles in the pockets will not become lost.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a holder having a stationary supporting surface disposed generally horizontally and a movable gripping member in the form of a horizontally elongated member which is swingable in a vertical plane for grippingly engaging a portion of a pair of trousers, the end portion of a towel or the like for securely retaining such articles with the major portions thereof suspended from the horizontal supporting surface.

A further important object of the present invention is to provide a holder in accordance with the preceding object in which the gripping member is spring biased towards the stationary support for grippingly engaging the article supported thereby.

Still another important feature of the present invention is to provide a holder having a supporting shelf associated therewith in which articles may be conveniently supported or stored in convenient position for access.

Yet another important feature of this invention is to provide a holder in accordance with the preceding objects in which the gripping member is provided with a handle for operation thereof with the handle including means thereon for supporting other articles such as a necktie, shirt or the like.

Another feature of this invention is to provide a holder for a towel, trousers or the like which is simple in construction, easy to use, effective for its particular purposes and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details 3,361,267 Patented Jan. 2, 1968 of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which: FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the trouser holder illustrating the manner of use thereof;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 2-2 of FIGURE 1 illustrating the structural details of the trouser holder;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a form of the invention especially adapted for supporting the end portion of a towel;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 4-4 of FIGURE 3 illustrating further structural details of the towel holder; and

FIGURE 5 is a detailed sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 5-5 of FIGURE 4 illustrating the structural details of the spring mechanism for biasing the gripping member towards the stationary supporting member.

Referring now specifically to FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawings, the trouser holder of the present invention is generally designated by the numeral 10 and includes a stationary supporting member in the form of a horizontally disposed plate-like member 12 which has a rounded outer end 14 and a roughened upper surface 16 for securely gripping the waist engaging area or belt receiving area 18 of a pair of trousers 20 in which the cuff area 22 depends in a normal position so that the creases in the trouser legs will be maintained.

At the inner or rear edge of the plate-like member 12, there is integrally formed or rigidly attached a vertically disposed mounting plate 24 disposed against a supporting wall surface 26 and secured thereto by suitable fasteners such as screw threaded members or wood screws 28 or the like. Projecting forwardly from the bottom edge of the mounting plate 24 is a horizontally disposed shelf 30 or the like which is generally parallel to the plate-like member 12 but spaced therebelow and having a width considerably less than the width of the plate-like member 12. The outer edge of the shelf 30 is provided with an upturned flange 32 forming a retaining edge for articles disposed on the shelf 30. Also, each end of the shelf 31) is provided with an upstanding edge 34 which cooperates with a partial end plate 36 having a curved edge 38 as illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2 to form a compartment for receiving various articles such as a wallet 40, a comb 42, change 44 and the like for temporary storage in a position for easy access.

Pivotally attached to the plate-like member 12 adjacent the edge thereof disposed against the wall 26 is a gripping member or plate 46 which has a width generally equal to the width of the plate-like member 12 and secured thereto by hinge members 48 to enable pivotal movement of the gripping member 46 towards and away from the stationary plate-lilte supporting member 12. Interconnecting the plate-like member 12 and the gripping mem- 60 her 46 is a pair of torsion coil springs 50 for spring biasing the gripping member 46 towards the plate-like member 12 for gripping the belt area 18 of the trousers therebetween. The undersurface of the gripping member 46 may also be roughened or the facing surfaces may be 5 provided with a covering of felt material 16 and 52 for securely gripping the trousers. The outer edge of the gripping member 46 is rounded as at 53 and the inner edge thereof designated at 54 is also beveled or rounded to enable the gripping member 50 to pivot upwardly in 70 relation to the wall surface.

Projecting forwardly from the center of the rounded edge 53 of the gripping member 46 is a handle 56 which is upwardly offset and provided with a rounded surface 58 which forms a support for hanging a necktie 60 or the like thereon or a shirt could be engaged with the handle 56 by positioning in substantially the same manner as the necktie thus supporting a necktie, shirt or even a suit coat on the projection 56 which serves as a handle for operating the gripping member 46.

The upper surface of the gripping member 46 may also be employed as a shelf for supporting various articles and the utility tray or shelf 30 is used to support articles of a nature that would have a tendency to fall off of the shelf formed by the gripping member 46. The entire device may be constructed of any convenient material such as wood, metal, plastic or the like and the roughening or gripping material on the facing surfaces of the plate-like members 12 and 46 may be in the form of an attached material, serrations or the like formed in the material or any other means may be provided for securely gripping the trousers or the like.

The towel holder is illustrated in FIGURES 4-5 and is generally designated by the numeral 70 and includes a pair of brackets 72 attached to a wall surface 74 by suitable wood screws 76 or similar fastener elements. Projecting outwardly from each of the brackets 72 is an elongated supporting rod 78 which is rigidly affixed to the bracket 72 as by welding or integral construction.

Interconnecting the ends of the rods 78 is a stationary support member 80 in the form of a semi-cylindrical rod having a roughened flat supporting surface 82 facing upwardly for receiving the end portion 84 of a towel 85. Overlying the transverse semi-cylindrical supporting rod 80 is a gripping member 86 in the form of a semi-cylindrical rod or gripping member having a roughened or serrated lower surface 88 disposed in opposed relation to the roughened or serrated surface 82 of the semicylindrical rod 80 thus securely gripping the end por tion 84 of the towel 85 therebetween. The semi-cylindrical gripping rod 86 is provided with a pair of support arms adjacent the ends thereof as designated by numeral 90 and the arms 90 extend alongside of and are pivotally attached to the rods 78 by pivot pins 92 which may be in the form of rivets, bolts or the like thus pivoting the arms 90 and the gripping member 86 to the support rods or arms 78. A torsion coil spring 94 encircles the pivot pin 92 and has one hook end thereof 96 engaged with the arm 90 and the other hook end 98 engaged with the rod 78 thus spring biasing the arms 90 downwardly thus spring biasing the gripping member 86 towards the stationary support member 80 for resiliently gripping the towel 85 so that the major portion thereof depends from the holder 70 whereby the towel may be used to dry the hands or the like without removing the towel from the towel holder thus keeping the towel in the optimum position for use and eliminating the necessity of hanging the towel back over a towel bar or rack after each use.-

In addition to supporting towels, the holder 70 may also be employed as a utility holder for drip dry articles and the like and articles may be supported by placing them over the rod 78 or over the gripping member 86 as well as gripping articles between the stationary support member and the gripping member 86 to serve as a utility holder having many and varied purposes. This device may also be constructed of suitable material and of suitable dimensions for enabling the support of the desired articles.

As illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 4, the gripping rod 86 has longitudinal recesses 87 on each side thereof to facilitate gripping of the rod 86 by the fingers. The upper surface of rod 86 is still rounded to support various articles thereon as desired.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as a new is as follows:

1. A holder comprising a horizontally disposed supporting member, a gripping member movable towards and away from the supporting member for holding an article therebetween, and means supporting the gripping member for pivotal movement towards and away from the supporting member, spring means biasing said gripping member towards the supporting member for normally retaining the gripping member is engaged relation to the supporting member, said supporting member and gripping member being in the form of plates for grippingly engaging the waist area of a pair of trousers throughout the length thereof, said supporting member including a depending mounting plate at the inner edge thereof, and a forwardly extending supporting tray at the lower edge of the mounting plate for supporting articles thereon.

2. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said gripping plate includes a centrally disposed upwardly offset rounded handle at the free edge thereof for enabling manipulation of the gripping plate and also supporting articles such as a necktie.

3. The structure as defined in claim 2 wherein the inner edge of the gripping plate is pivotally attached to the inner edge portion of the supporting plate, said spring means including torsion coil springs interconnecting the supporting plate and gripping plate at the inner edges thereof for biasing the outer edge portions of the gripping plate towards the supporting plate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 744,819 11/1903 Thomas 211-124 1,518,936 12/1924 Lachenmaier 2117 1,975,543 10/1934 Giessler 211-424 2,03 0,498 2/ 1936 Chmurski 21189 FOREIGN PATENTS 501,760 2/1920 France. 347,890 5/ 1931 Great Britain.

JOHN PETO, Primary Examiner.

W. D. LOULAN, Examiner. 

